http://www.trademarksa.org
Gender inequalities in ownership and control of land in Africa: myths versus reality<p>Washington: Over the past decade, stakeholders have made a variety of generalized claims concerning women’s landownership, both globally and in Africa. Typically, these claims include statements with single statistics, such as “women own less than 2 percent of the world’s land” or “women own approximately 15 percent of land in Africa south of the Sahara.” These claims are problematic because they are not substantiated by empirical evidence, do not reflect variations in landownership across or within countries, do not acknowledge differences in landownership regimes, nor address comparative ownership by men in the same contexts. Neither do they address the difference between ownership and control of land. The lack of a clear understanding behind statistics on gender and land also leads to an inability to clearly articulate a policy response to the potential inequalities faced by women and men.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/gender-inequalities-ownership-and-control-land-africa-myths-versus-reality
14 Mar 2014 12:00:00 +0200Brazilian innovation for under-financed Mozambican agriculture<p>Maputo: Some of the technological excellence that revolutionised Brazil’s tropical agriculture is reaching small producers in Mozambique. But it is not enough to compensate for the underfinancing of the sector. Last year, Erasmo Laldás, a 37-year-old farmer who has worked for 15 years in Namaacha, a village 75 kilometres from Mozambique’s capital Maputo, planted 15,000 seedlings of Festival, a new strawberry variety originated in the United States. Laldás produced seven tonnes of strawberries, employing eight workers. He sold all his produce in Maputo, and in January was the lead vendor in that market, because there was already a shortage of the fruit in South Africa, his main competitor.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/brazilian-innovation-under-financed-mozambican-agriculture
12 Mar 2014 12:00:00 +0200Namibia: Govt partly responsible for high farm prices – FAO<p>Windhoek:&nbsp; Government&nbsp;has, to some extent, been responsible for the high prices of farms in Namibia. This is according to the latest agricultural land price study issued by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) on Tuesday. FAO consultant Fleefort Muzyamba said during a stakeholders' consultative workshop on agricultural land prices, organised by the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement in Windhoek, that this is because government has voluntarily accepted price offers. "Government has voluntarily accepted the price offers, and purchased these expensive farms. The government decided to accelerate the purchase of farms at prices even higher than what government valuers had estimated. The effect is that this resulted in sharp increases in farm prices to high levels," he charged.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/namibia-govt-partly-responsible-high-farm-prices-fao
12 Mar 2014 12:00:00 +0200African states seek new farmland deals without problems of past<p>Abu Dhabi:&nbsp; African countries that missed out on Gulf cash pouring into agricultural projects elsewhere on the continent are trying to entice Arab investors with deals they say are designed to avoid problems of the past.&nbsp; An earlier wave of foreign investment in African farmland aroused domestic hostility or even unrest on some projects, with opponents regarding them as land-grabs that eat into local people's food needs. Undeterred, governments of countries including Zambia and Ghana argue that everyone can benefit from such investment provided it is properly regulated. They took their message this week to a global agricultural forum in the United Arab Emirates, offering land lease and production sharing deals which aim to raise money for helping their own small scale farmers and to feed local people.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/african-states-seek-new-farmland-deals-without-problems-past
07 Feb 2014 12:00:00 +0200OECD Investment Policy Review: Tanzania 2013<p>Paris: This review evaluates Tanzania's current policy situation and makes recommendations for enabling the country to attract higher investment so as to exploit its full potential and become a regional trade and investment hub. The review finds that, while private investment in Tanzania has considerably risen since the early 1990s, further progress can be made to improve the business climate and attract more investment in key sectors, such as infrastructure and agriculture. The review is based on the OECD Policy Framework for Investment and undertaken within the framework of the NEPAD-OECD Africa Investment Initiative with the support of the Government of the United States.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/oecd-investment-policy-review-tanzania-2013
01 Feb 2014 12:00:00 +0200Assessing global land use: balancing consumption with sustainable supply<p>New York:&nbsp; If demand for new land on which to grow food continues at the current rate, by 2050, high-end estimates are that area nearly the size of Brazil could be ruined, with vital forests, savannahs and grassland lost, the United Nations has&nbsp;warned in a new report. Up to 849 million hectares of natural land may be degraded, according to report, “<a href="http://www.unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=2758&ArticleID=10697&l=en" target="_blank">Assessing Global Land Use: Balancing Consumption with Sustainable Supply</a>”, produced by the International Resource Panel, a consortium of 27 internationally renowned resource scientists, 33 national Governments and other groups, hosted by the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP).http://www.trademarksa.org/news/assessing-global-land-use-balancing-consumption-sustainable-supply
25 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0200Land Policy Forum to lend support to Zambia's land reform process<p>Lusaka:&nbsp;In recognition of the need to review the country's land governance and administration challenges the Government of Zambia will host a stakeholders meeting on 24 January in Lusaka, in partnership with the Economic Commission for Africa and the Land Policy Initiative and other partners. The meeting aims at coming to a common understanding of the land policy reform process in Zambia being spearheaded by the government.&nbsp;http://www.trademarksa.org/news/land-policy-forum-lend-support-zambias-land-reform-process
09 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0200Large scale agribusiness investments and implications in Africa: development finance institutions' perspectives<p>Tunis:&nbsp; Agriculture is the dominant source of livelihood in Africa, especially in low-income rural areas. About 70% of the population is directly employed in the sector, and it accounts for approximately 30% of the region’s gross domestic product (GDP). Therefore growth in agricultural productivity is likely to have a direct impact on economic growth with strong effects on poverty. Furthermore, agricultural productivity growth resulting from increased investments (both public and private), when coupled with input and output market development, can set the stage for the same structural transformation of agrarian economies that has immensely benefitted other developing regions, most recently Southeast Asia.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/large-scale-agribusiness-investments-and-implications-africa-development-finance-institutions-p
06 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0200Tanzania: new IDA-funded land administration reform, access to financial services, project<p>Washington: The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has&nbsp;approved funds to strengthen the business environment in Tanzania, with actions focused on land administration reform and improved access to financial services, to spur economic growth and improve shared prosperity for the country’s population, especially for the most vulnerable. The US$60.2 million Additional Financing to Private Sector Competitiveness Project (PSCP) is financed by a credit from the World Bank’s International Development Association.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/tanzania-new-ida-funded-land-administration-reform-access-financial-services-project
01 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0200Gulf states seek food security in Europe, US, after African problems<div class="field-item even"><p>Abu Dhabi:&nbsp; The desert states of the Gulf are changing tack in their multi-billion dollar search for food security. With their <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">farming</span> projects in some of the poorest African nations sometimes arousing local hostility, wealthy Arab investors are turning to those developed countries that comfortably produce more food than they consume. United Arab Emirates-based agricultural firm Al Dahra has chose this path in March, buying eight agricultural companies for $400 million in Serbia, a major food exporter where public attitudes to foreign-owned <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">farming</span> may be less sensitive. Projects in Europe, North America and Australasia tend to be more expensive and offer less scope to build vast estates like in Africa. But they also present fewer political problems and less risk for the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait which all need to feed growing populations.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/gulf-states-seek-food-security-europe-us-after-african-problems
31 Dec 2013 12:00:00 +0200Farmers in Mozambique fear Brazilian-style agriculture<p><span class="meta_origin">Nampula:&nbsp; </span>Rodolfo Razão, an elderly small farmer in Mozambique, obtained an official land usage certificate for his 10 hectares in 2010, but he has only been able to use seven. The rest was occupied by a South African company that grows soy, maize and beans on some 10,000 hectares in the northeast of the country. He got nowhere filing a complaint with the authorities in the district of Monapo, where he lives, in the province of Nampula. And at the age of 78, he can’t wait much longer.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/farmers-mozambique-fear-brazilian-style-agriculture
30 Dec 2013 12:00:00 +0200Mozambique: OECD Investment Policy Review<p>Paris: Since the early 1990s Mozambique has worked to stimulate economic growth with market-based economic policies. It has moved away from central planning, created the Mozambique Investment Promotion Centre, and reformed its investment code to strengthen investors’ rights. To reinforce these investment reform efforts and continue to improve its business climate, the government of Mozambique, in partnership with the OECD and NEPAD, began a comprehensive review of its investment policies in 2011. The resulting Investment Policy Review notes that, while numerous policy advances have been achieved, there are remaining challenges for the country to overcome. To assist the government with these challenges, the review makes a series of recommendations in the form of policy options. These recommendations have been discussed in detail with government stakeholders with a view to implementation.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/mozambique-oecd-investment-policy-review
25 Nov 2013 12:00:00 +0200EALA adopts report on land investments<p>Kigali: East African Community (EAC) partner states should find a solution to issues of Foreign Direct Investment and land use, the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) concluded on Tuesday. Sitting in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, the members adopted a report by the committee on agriculture, tourism and natural resources about investment in agriculture. The report followed a recommendation by a continental parliamentary meeting in Rwanda earlier this year, which sought to ensure that East Africans can equally benefit from agricultural foreign direct investments, just like the investors.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/eala-adopts-report-land-investments
22 Nov 2013 12:00:00 +0200Trends and patterns of land use change and international aid in sub-Saharan Africa<p>The sub-Saharan Africa region recorded the fastest conversion of forest land to agriculture in the past 20 years. The region also has the widest yield gap and together with Latin America and Caribbean has the largest unused arable land. However, there are wide variations across countries and this offers valuable lessons on the drivers of agricultural intensification and land use dynamics. This study shows only few countries experienced a decrease in cropland extent. Additionally, few countries with low agricultural potential have shown higher actual maize yield while others with high potential have shown lower actual yield.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/trends-and-patterns-land-use-change-and-international-aid-sub-saharan-africa
24 Oct 2013 12:00:00 +0200Are mega-farms the future of global agriculture?<p>Washington:&nbsp; With farms cultivating tens or hundreds of thousands of hectares, Ukraine's example is often used to demonstrate the existence of economies of scale in modern grain production. Panel data analysis for all the country's farms above 200 HA in 2001 to 2011 suggests that higher yields and profits are due to unobserved factors at rayon (district) and farm level rather than economies of scale. Productivity growth was driven not by farm expansion but by exit of unproductive and entry of more efficient farms. Higher initial shares of area under farms above 5,000&nbsp;hectares at rayon level significantly reduce subsequent exit and entry, suggesting that excessive land concentration reduces productivity growth in the long run.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/are-mega-farms-future-global-agriculture
08 Oct 2013 12:00:00 +0200Trade and Environment Review 2013: food security in a changing climate<p>Geneva: Developing and developed countries alike need a paradigm shift in agricultural development: from a "green revolution" to a "truly ecological intensification" approach. This implies a rapid and significant shift from conventional, monoculture-based and high external-input-dependent industrial production towards mosaics of sustainable, regenerative production systems that also considerably improve the productivity of small-scale farmers.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/trade-and-environment-review-2013-food-security-changing-climate
18 Sep 2013 12:00:00 +0200In southern Africa, small farmers fight for recognition<p><span class="dateline">Blantyre:&nbsp; <span>Groups representing small-scale farmers,&nbsp;rural women and social activists from the countries of the Southern African Development Community, SADC, are asking the regional bloc to consider stop giving what they say is “red carpet” treatment to multilateral corporations at the expense of the poor. The call is included in a joint statement issued by the Eastern and Southern African Small Scale Farmer’s Forum and People’s Dialogue which says the region is facing ongoing challenges and&nbsp;a deepening crisis due to neo-liberal economic policies.&nbsp;http://www.trademarksa.org/news/southern-africa-small-farmers-fight-recognition
26 Aug 2013 12:00:00 +0200Why South Africa's land reform agenda is stuck<p>Durban:&nbsp; This year marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the South African Land Act, which restricted black people from buying or occupying land except as employees of white people. The Act gave white people ownership of 87 percent of land, leaving the black majority to settle in the remaining 13 percent.&nbsp; &nbsp;Although the law was replaced by a policy of land restitution when the African National Congress (ANC) government came to power more than 19 years ago, South Africa is still struggling to reverse the Act’s impact. There have been problems and controversies with both policy and implementation of the land reform agenda, which uses redistribution, restitution and tenure reform to make the much-needed changes.&nbsp; &nbsp;IRIN takes a look at some of the problems that have slowed reform.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/why-south-africas-land-reform-agenda-stuck
15 Aug 2013 12:00:00 +0200India: Sugar barons turn to Africa for growth opportunities<p>Pune: A sugar cooperative run by a minister in Maharashtra will lease 27,000 hectares in Mozambique to cultivate corn, soyabean and rice, and is eyeing a sugar mill in Kenya as scarcity of resources and oppressive regulations goad sugar barons to turn to Africa for growth opportunities.&nbsp; Abundance of land and natural resources in Africa and prospects of serving both the local market as well as shipping to India are a big attraction for Maharashtra's Rural Development Minister Jayant Patil, who controls Rajarambapu Patil Saharaki Sakhar Karkhana Ltd, a sugar cooperative. He is not alone.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/india-sugar-barons-turn-africa-growth-opportunities
13 Aug 2013 12:00:00 +0200Securing Africa's land for shared prosperity: new World Bank report<p>Washington: Sub-Saharan Africa is home to nearly half of the world’s usable, uncultivated land but so far the continent has not been able to develop these unused tracts, estimated at more than 202 million hectares, to dramatically reduce poverty and boost growth, jobs, and shared prosperity.&nbsp; According to a new World Bank report, <strong><em>“</em></strong><a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/01/17782306/securing-africas-land-shared-prosperity-program-scale-up-reforms-investments" target="_blank">Securing Africa’s Land for Shared Prosperity</a><em>,”</em>&nbsp; African countries and their communities could effectively end ‘land grabs,’ grow significantly more food across the region, and transform their development prospects if they can modernize the complex governance procedures that govern land ownership and management over the next decade. Africa has the highest poverty rate in the world with 47.5 percent of the population living below US $1.25 a day.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/securing-africas-land-shared-prosperity-new-world-bank-report
23 Jul 2013 12:00:00 +0200Innovative approaches to increased private sector participation in agriculture development<p>The NEPAD Business Foundation’s Removing the Barriers (RtB) Programme objective is to mobilise and institutionalise the private sector’s voice in Africa’s agricultural and related development policies aimed at unlocking private sector investment bottlenecks, (policy and non-policy induced), ensuring political support, commitment and buy-in from the highest levels of government. The programme aims to facilitate co-ordinated, collaborative and focused planning between the public and private sectors.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/innovative-approaches-increased-private-sector-participation-agriculture-development
18 Jul 2013 12:00:00 +0200Complex trade pacts promote land grabs<p>Dar es Salaam:&nbsp;Multiplicity of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) leave room for some investors to take advantage of African resources, it has been asserted.&nbsp; Concern was raised during a Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) International event themed: “Towards a Multilateral Consensus on Trade and Investment: Bali and Beyond” last week in Geneva where it was that a set of principles and good practices must be adopted and adhered to in BITs FTAs to support African governments and ensure a development-friendly model is secured in the negotiations.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/complex-trade-pacts-promote-land-grabs
02 Jul 2013 12:00:00 +0200African Economic Outlook 2013<p>Marrakesh:&nbsp;Africa’s agricultural, mining and energy resources could boost the continent’s economic growth and pave the way for a breakthrough in human development, according to the African Economic Outlook 2013, released here. The report is produced annually by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the OECD Development Centre, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The continent’s economic outlook for 2013 and 2014 is promising, confirming its healthy resilience to internal and external shocks and its role as a growth pole in an ailing global economy. Africa’s economy is projected to grow by 4.8% in 2013 and accelerate further to 5.3% in 2014.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/african-economic-outlook-2013
28 May 2013 12:00:00 +0200The anatomy of a Mozambique land deal<p>Niassa:&nbsp; A multi-million dollar “ethical” plantation development in northwestern Mozambique - the initiative of a clutch of Scandinavian faith-based organizations - has faced alleged acts of sabotage by the very people it was designed to assist, illustrating the divisions between foreign benefactors and local communities. &nbsp; The company Chikweti Forest conceded in a recent environmental impact assessment that the land dispute was rooted in the initial, failed, consultation process, which did not involve either an entire community or neglected to consult others that were to be affected. Local authorities, NGOs and Chikweti Forests are now engaged in a conflict resolution process with those affected by the project.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/anatomy-mozambique-land-deal
24 May 2013 12:00:00 +0200AU "not opposed" to the acquisition of African farmland by foreign investors<p>Addis Ababa:&nbsp; The African Union (AU) is not opposed to the acquisition of fertile farmland in the continent by foreign investors, Rhoda Peace Tumusine, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Economy of the AU Commission, has said in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 'Sixty per cent of Africa's arable land is not cultivated. In that context, we need foreign investors to develop all these land and modernise our agriculture,' she told a press conference on Monday. The Commissioner however called on AU member states to negotiate better contracts with foreign investors and protect the interests of small-scale farmers.http://www.trademarksa.org/news/au-not-opposed-acquisition-african-farmland-foreign-investors
23 May 2013 12:00:00 +0200